bottlecaplogs | mist on the grass

Entry tags:

mist on the grass

Who: Ingo and Emmet
What: Exploration of the Middle Forest
When: Late April
Where: Middle Forest
Warnings: Hallucinations, dissociation, minor injury

[The middle forest, much like the time they explored the northern end, is blanketed with fog almost as soon as they enter the shadows of the trees. Ingo ignites his flames, as usual, but it's little use. Purple light refracts off the thick mist, as well as the faint red glow of Emmet's eyes and markings.

It's a little spooky. Ingo tries to keep his eyes off them. Telling Emmet about his experiences with Zoroark was probably, overall, a good thing to do. He's not longer lying to him, even if only by omission. But it probably makes some of his less-than-kind responses a little more obvious...]

I am sure any marks we leave will simply change again, but we could make an attempt anyhow.

[Today's another scouting mission, more than anything. Ingo's more relaxed about that than about rescue missions, but their strange experience in the forest last time still has him keeping a sharp eye out, as well as he can.]

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I don't know either. As for the voices ... I still haven't heard anything. And I've been trying, since you mentioned it.

But you said Typhlosion are guides for lost souls. If it's true, then maybe ...

[ But if they are real, then ... then what. Go back again, some time, with more preparation (somehow) and try to push through the fog to whatever lies beyond it? ]

That is true! Though - I would hardly have been able to guide them like that.

[Even if he'd kept his wits about him, Ingo doesn't actually have some instinctual knowledge of how to shepherd lost souls into the afterlife. At least, he doesn't think he does? Maybe if he'd come face-to-face with them, it would have come to him.

Ingo suspects, though, that he would have just ended up equally lost.]

I wonder if anyone else has heard any such thing, out here.

Not that many of us have gone this way yet. Have we?

[ ... didn't the last batch of newcomers come from here? not all of them ended up in town, either... ]

We can probably warn them. If no one else has. To keep an eye or ear out for ... anyone still lost in the woods?

[ Is that what it is, though? Or is it something more esoteric than that?

Because it's still true that there weren't any reports of missing Pokemon or rescue missions for this part of the woods. ]

...I suppose...

[Ingo, for his own part, is quite sure that it's more complicated than that. He'll have to try and explain it to them - he doesn't think this should be treated as a regular missing Pokemon case. He doesn't think they ought to rush to send anyone else out here.]

[ An ear flicks. He glances to the side and over a shoulder at Ingo... who is, presumably, still watching the ground. ]

That doesn't sound very sure. Okay. What part? Do you disagree with, I mean.

Hm?! Oh, nothing really. Only, I do not think it will be as simple as that. They're...in the fog, whatever that means.

[He darts a quick glance back over his shoulder. But there's nothing there.]

You are saying they are completely uncoupled from themselves.

[ Well now he's also turning his head to see what Ingo might be trying to spot back there, but it is, of course, nothing! ]

... The Swoobats and other aggressive Pokemon, do you think?

[ The oddly mindless, unreasonable ones. Infer the question. ]

Ah - maybe so! That is a frightening thought!

[Ingo hadn't quite carried it that far, too consumed with worrying about their current state. But it does seem rather logical.]

We have not...been able to speak with any of them afterwards, have we? None of us. Even after they fainted.

What else would you have meant by 'they are in the fog?'

[ As opposed to being in the woods, which happens to be full of fog, ]

... If anyone has been able to speak to them. I am not aware of it.

I hadn't quite considered that connection. That they may be lost in spirit, but very present in body...

[Would that have happened to him?]

Hm. Curious. Perhaps we ought to try and bring one back sometime. One that can be easily contained, of course! [back to the lack of Pokeballs in some ways]

[ Would that have happened to him, indeed.

There's a stutter-skip in the fall of Emmet's steps, not to the point of tripping, but noticeable as he exhales a long and shaky breath. ]

... I am Emmet. I am verrrrry glad I did not let you go into the fog.

Might be easier to bring back something smaller, though.

[ Back to the lack of Pokeballs. ]

......well, certainly not one of those Swoobat.

[He noticed the slight stumble, though. Ingo's not immediately sure if he ought to address it at all. It's not like he can't extrapolate; he's not an idiot. But, he's here now...]

Are you alright...?

Haha. Not really.

[ Denying it would— very much stretch the limits of belief. He knows that much. That said: ]

But now, here, is not a good time for it. And I am not hurt if that's what you mean instead, so we should focus on getting back first. ... We can talk about it later. If you want.

Ah, no, that is not quite what I meant.

[It feels like an obvious deflection, but Ingo's too polite to call it out. Maybe he would have if it were Akari or someone he felt like he knew very well, but. For now, Emmet is right; let's just focus on getting back.]

We ought to be close by now.

[ It is an obvious deflection. Obvious enough, even, that it hardly manages to be a deflection at all. Deferral, maybe. ]

Not quite where we started from, but the distance seems about right, yup. If we head ... that way? We should probably see the edge of the forest soon.

[ Unless the forest decides to play tricks on them again, but. ]

[Ingo sighs.]

That is a relief. I am quite done with being here!

[ Emmet lets out another sigh of his own, and... ]

... Huh. You are right. I am very ready to be out of here. [ Is that just the adrenaline crash talking. ] We haven't been here that long though, have we?

[Ingo glances up at the sky, but even without really checking the sun...]

I don't believe so. It simply feels like it has been a very long time!

Strange.

[ What a weird way to suddenly miss your Xtrans. Part of Emmet wonders what the time display on it would read if he checked it, how much passed since they entered the woods, if it still theoretically had a charge.

Taking a different way back means they don't pass by any of their previous markers, just some fallen branches ... but the dense trees do begin to thin. There's a brighter spot not too far ahead of them now. ]

[Ingo lets out a relieved sigh at seeing sunlight. It feels a bit like their mission was a total failure, but it certainly could have been worse - it's not as though they required rescue themselves, in the end.]

I...think I may just go back to our room after this.

[ Wow that's bright after adjusting to the dark of the forest. Emmet takes a moment to try to shake off whatever pins and needles still linger from the ominous atmosphere of the foggy forest before blinking over at Ingo. ]

Okay. Before or after the debrief?

Want me to grab you anything from the supply rooms?

Oh... [Ingo shakes his head as well, Growlithe-like.] Yes, of course. The debriefing. I suppose we had best do that first.

[As to the rest, well, he might as well fetch anything he wants himself if he has to go debrief anyway! He's already thinking about what they ought to say - at the very least, it should be quick enough to explain.]

I wonder if it would have seemed familiar to anyone who went in...? [It muddies things, somewhat, that it was only the two of them. What's familiar to Emmet ought to be familiar to Ingo...even if this is maybe the first time that's ever really worked correctly.]

I wonder too. If the forest was just making the idea of 'familiar'. And letting us fill in, make up the rest.

[ Emmet did consider that, when he couldn't pinpoint a specific forest— but to a degree many forests can look pretty similar if you're deep enough in them. Hard to say when it's just the two of them. If there was a third, from somewhere else entirely, and they also thought it was familiar... well!

(Well, at least he doesn't have to try to guess at what Ingo was experiencing to explain it at the debrief.) ]

... if you thought it was familiar too, then it probably wasn't Ilex.

It only really struck me that way after you said something.

[Perhaps if Emmet had stayed quiet, Ingo wouldn't have noticed? Which sort of lends credence to the idea that it is actually similar to a place Emmet knows. But, then, the fog obviously affects people differently; maybe that effect just hadn't hooked into him until then.]

Hmmm.

[ It's a thoughtful, held note as they start heading back towards— presumably, the questboard... or is it the Spire? Wherever they normally report in after. ]

... Are you okay? If you really want to head back first. I can do the debrief, if you want. Maybe can't... exactly explain what it was that you felt or heard but the rest should be fine.

[ You know, watching it secondhand and explaining what Ingo said he thought. If he stops and lingers on it he's weirdly exhausted for what feels like it was a relatively short trip, and he didn't even go through whatever that was Ingo did. ]

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